


A Pat on the Back

by supercess



Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: Angst, Drama, M/M, One-Shot, Sakumoto - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-06
Updated: 2017-03-06
Packaged: 2018-09-28 14:42:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10118669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/supercess/pseuds/supercess
Summary: Rumors about Sho's girlfriend spread like wildfire and everyone seems happy for him.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in a chatbox with ninonanoni_0617. Check out her fic response to this on her LJ which she also sent me in the chatbox this morning. lol! Love her to bits~ <3

\--  
"Congratulations, Sho-chan!" Aiba and Ohno patted him on the back with big smiles on their faces.

"Wow, Sho-chan really did it huh. It really doesn't look good on you that she's the one taking all the heat after admitting." Nino said. "Be a man, Sho-chan! And, well, ask for Johnny-san's permission to admit." Nino teased with a laugh.

They were in the green room after wrapping up their recent CM. It was a busy day and a whirlwind of events happened. Rumors about Sho's girlfriend spread like wildfire and now, it's been confirmed, at least on her side.

"Is Jun-kun still there?" Aiba asked innocently, looking around. Jun was left behind with the CM staff, meticulously checking their shots like he does all the time. One by one, they left the green room and headed towards their van— their usual protocol— leaving behind Sho who was neck deep in reading the news on his phone.

It was then that Jun walked in, an easy smile on his face. Sho returned the smile he was given. "I saw the news." Jun said, walking towards his things and picking them up one by one, ready to leave and move on to their next appointment. "Good on you. Congratulations, Sakurai-san." He continued, passing by his friend and giving Sho a pat and squeeze on the shoulder.

"Thanks." was the only word that came out of Sho's lips, the smile still on his face, as Jun gave him an approving look before walking out of the room.

Once Jun was gone, Sho's chest heaved with a sigh. He closed his eyes and cursed under his breath, he didn’t miss the way Jun used his surname and honorific which made it feel like they were so distant. When he looked up at himself in the mirror, his eyes were bright red. "Good on you." He repeated the words said to him. "Yeah, 「Congratulations, Sakurai-san.」."

But his heart felt heavy, it felt like there was a weight that refused to leave. He felt it when Jun walked in but the weight got heavier when he was congratulated. And he knew why, Sho knew exactly why. "God damn it, Sakurai Sho." He cursed himself.

His heart felt heavy because he expected a different reaction from Jun. But as usual, the man was stoic and still wished him well. Sho tried to get over it and get over himself, made himself try and fall in love with another person. Dragged another person, an unsuspecting one, into his problem. But now that it had come to this, he realized that the effort was futile. That it was still Jun and that 「Congratulations, Sakurai-san」 hurt him more than if Jun just ignored him or got angry with him. He realized that he was the only one who wasn't over it.

Sho let out another sigh, an angry one this time, covering his face with his hands. This was his fault and no one else. He had to live its consequences and the consequence is living with someone else. "God damn it, Sakurai Sho." He repeated.

—

"Good on you." Jun muttered under his breath as soon as he was out the green room and the door was closed behind him. His chest felt like it had just cried, he could feel his heart beating madly, refusing to calm down. He let out a forced laugh—directing the laugh at himself, the hand that patted Sho's shoulder hanging at his side. He became hyper-aware of the hand, shaking and trying to calm the nerves in it. Jun closed it into a fist, hoping the involuntary shaking would go away.

He never imagined that it would come to this. Pride and stupidity got in the way and now here they were—one person having someone else and the other one congratulating. Picture perfect friends.

Friends.

Jun bit his lip, shaking his head disappointedly more to himself than to anyone else. "You're stupid, Matsumoto." He said with a smile that did not reach his eyes.

"Yeah, you are."

Jun looked up and there was Nino, staring dully at him. "Nino." Jun said in an almost needy voice. He could feel the tears prickling his eyes, Jun ran a hand on his face, making sure that he stopped the tears before they came out.

Nino walked towards him, shaking his head at him like Jun was a little kid. And it felt like he was when Nino patted him comfortingly at the back of his head--it felt like Junior days all over again, when Sho and Jun also parted ways and it was Nino who was there, doing the same thing as he was doing right at that moment.

Jun took a deep and calming breath, letting out all the shaking. "Come on, Jun-kun. You were fine before, I'm sure you'll be fine again." Nino said.

Jun nodded, balling his hand into a fist again. "Congratulations, Sho-kun." He muttered.

It was far from what he felt. This was not how it was supposed to be but here they were, both not knowing that they didn't want to let go but both too proud to admit it.

It was like Junior days all over again, pride and stupidity got in their way.

**Author's Note:**

> It's really hard thinking of a title, that's what I hate the most when writing fics. But anyway, like what I said in my tumblr post, it's great fic material! That's the only thing I get out of this rumor. Haha. Be sure to check out ninonanoni_0617's fic on her site too~ It's pretty good, dunno where she got that idea that I hurt Nino again lolol *wink wink*. Thanks for reading~


End file.
